Banners attacking party leader Vishwajeet Kadam spring up across town, senior members plan to go to the police

Seated in the Opposition now, as the Congress party fights several fires all over the country, all is not be well with its Pune city unit as well. On the day Congress state president Ashok Chavan was set to visit the city, a number of banners of unknown origin sprang up across town, blaming the ‘downfall’ of the Congress on the ineptitude of Congress leader Vishwajeet Kadam in strong words.

These sarcastic posters, which essentially told Kadam to ‘go back home to Sangli’, were allegedly put up by workers of the same party on Saturday. Subsequently, this has created quite a stir within party ranks, with senior leaders all set to go to the police to get to the bottom of this activity.

In strong wording, the banners read, “Vishwajeet, you are the architect of the city Congress’s damnation. Son, go back to Sangli. You had pledged to end the party in city after your defeat. You have honoured that oath. Child, no one will stop you from going to Sangli. It is not correct that your hard-earned money is kept in custody of city leaders. Brother, go back to your hometown. The only regret we have is that you failed to buy Punekars with your money — this aspiration of yours we could not satisfy. Go back and never show Pune your face again.”

Signed off by Kadam’s “well-wishers”, the banners named five Congress members — Raju Kale, Anil Kokate, Parshuram Kolte, Mubarak Shaikh and Vishwanath Bhosale — as their authors.

However, party leaders in the city asserted that these names are fake. City Congress president, Ramesh Bagwe, said, “None of the people whose names have been mentioned on the banners are members of the Congress. It seems whoever did this signed off with fake names. We have taken a note of what has happened and will initiate action.”

Reacting to the ruckus, Kadam told
Mirror, “It’s very difficult for me to say who did this, but there seem to be some disgruntled people in the party. I have been brought up to respect the value of team work. After my defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, I have only been working for this city. I never even asked for candidature — it was the party high command that decided I should contest from Pune. I have only continued my work. It is because of such people that the city Congress has suffered. These cannot be party workers.”

Meanwhile, other party workers got ready to lend their support to Kadam on a public platform. Congress leader at Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Arvind Shinde, said, “We were and always will be with Kadam. We are all going to gather at Congress Bhavan on Monday to show our support.”

City-based party leaders also suspect that this act was done by a former Congress corporator, who is currently eyeing the post of city president. “He has also taken a stand against the leadership in the past. It is possible that he has done it this time, too. We will find out soon,” said a senior party leader.

While supportive gatherings are being organised, party workers are also exploring legal options. Bagwe added, “Senior Congress members will be meeting to decide on a further course of action. We will also be filing a police complaint to find out exactly who is behind this incident.”

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